


Donut talks

by theoncomingwolf



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, I intended it to be more pearlnet, mostly it's just Lars and Sadie assuming they're married, not really super shippy but implied I guess?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-04-09 13:59:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4351547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoncomingwolf/pseuds/theoncomingwolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steven trying to comfort Pearl after her fight with Garnet, with a little bit of there's-no-way-Beach-City-doesn't-think-they're-lesbian-moms thrown in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Donut talks

**Author's Note:**

> this was supposed to be a Sadie POV fic with a lot more assumed pearlnet but it ended up being mostly Steven POV...

Pearl looks sad.

Steven likes to talk to his dad or Connie or the Gems when he’s sad, but he can’t see any of those working out for Pearl right now. Especially since one of the two Gems won’t talk to her, and that is the very problem at hand.

She hasn’t moved her gaze from the door to the temple since she sat down- a while ago. Steven thinks she’s probably waiting for Garnet, who’s just going to come back and make her feel worse. Steven wishes they’ll talk, so they can make up like Ruby and Sapphire did, but his dad says Garnet needs a little space before she’ll be ready to talk to Pearl.

“Okay, Pearl,” Steven says, slowly opening the door, “I’m going to get donuts and walk around Beach City for a while. I’ll call the house if I run into Peridot. She’s probably waiting around to snatch me, so I hope leaving isn’t too dangerous...”

Pearl’s fixed gaze at the door breaks as she turns sharply to look at Steven.

“Huh?”

Anyone else would know he’s not being serious, but Pearl tends to worry. Connie says she’s very literal minded, which is how some people are. She’d read about it in a Psychology book once.  
Steven wishes he’d read it too. There was probably something about reverse psychology in there.

“Just going to get donuts,” he repeats, “I’ll call later if I don’t get kidnapped.”

“I don’t think Peridot will just be wandering around Beach City-” Pearl starts, glancing at the temple door before considering how small and fragile Steven is, “but, actually, maybe you shouldn’t go out! You can sit here, with me, and wait for- uh- sit. With me.”

“But I want donuts,” he says, pouting, “you could just come with me.”

She considers this for a moment, weighing the chances Garnet has forgiven her against the chances of finding Peridot and the chances of something happening to her little boy.

“Garnet will find you when she’s ready to talk,” Steven says quietly, setting his small hand on Pearl’s shoulder, the way he has seen Garnet comfort her so many times.

Pearl turns to him, eyes a little glassy. They’ve been like that on and off for many days. She nods.  
The walk to the Big Donut is spent mostly in silence. Pearl asks him to tell her about what he’s been up to, but when he’s talked for a little while and stops halfway through a sentence, she doesn’t notice, so he thinks she probably heard very little of it. He doesn’t talk again until they’ve gotten there.

“Do you want anything?” Steven asks.

Pearl stares blankly through the glass doors. Sadie waves, obviously a little uncomfortable at the look she thinks is directed at her. 

“I don’t eat,” she says.

“I know,” Steven says, “but they have coffee- that’s like tea. You drink tea sometimes. I can ask if they have tea...”

“You go ahead- I’m alright,” Pearl tells him, turning away and leaning against the large glass window to the right of the entrance.

Steven hesitates.

Maybe Pearl needs space too.

He goes in.

Sadie greets him amicably. She’s even more friendly than usual.

“The usual, Steven?”

He nods.

She grabs a bag and heads for his favorite type, glancing over her shoulder to verify that he does still have a forlorn expression on his face.

“Everything okay, Kiddo?” She asks, setting the bag on the counter and punching in his order.

“Is your mom okay?” Lars asks, glancing up from his phone as he walks out of the break room.

“My mom?” Steven asks, turning towards the window to see that Pearl is now sitting. She must be who Lars means.

He can see that she’s breathing, which she doesn’t even need to do, which means that she’s probably crying. He hopes that they can’t tell. Normal people breathe all the time. 

“Pearl and Garnet had a fight,” he sighs, “Garnet’s mad, which is making Pearl upset. I can’t be mad at Garnet because she’s right, but I don’t want to be mad at Pearl either- she feels bad, I can tell.”

Pearl doesn’t have anyone to talk to except him and Amethyst, but Sadie knows things sometimes, so Steven thinks Pearl can at least talk to him, who’s talked to her. By proxy, like Connie would say.

Steven rests his chin against the counter and Sadie ruffles his hair, eliciting a small giggle from him.

“Grown-ups fight sometimes,” Sadie says, “even grown-ups who love each other very much.”

“Like you and Lars?”

Sadie’s hand disappears from his head and Lars makes a noise of protest.

“Stop that! We’re not married!” he says, and Steven giggles some more.  
“And we’re not really grown-ups- not completely,” Sadie clarifies.

“When are they going to stop though?” Steven sighs, nudging his face towards Sadie’s hand with the hope that she’ll mess with his curls again, like Garnet does sometimes, “I wish they would make up already. They were getting along so well right before it... I don’t know what to do.”

“You’re good at this kind of stuff- just do that annoying thing where you make everyone be nice to each other,” Lars grumbles, though there’s no real anger in his tone, “you always seem to be making me do it.”

Sadie, hand still not on Steven’s head, moves away from the counter to drop another donut in the bag. She hands him the donuts, along with the change from his first donut- only charging him for the one he ordered.

“For-” she gestures to the woman outside the window.

Pearl looks a little calmer, judging by the little Steven can discern from her back.

He doesn’t correct Sadie that Pearl doesn’t eat, just gratefully accepts them and waves on his way out the door.

Sadie and Lars watch him exit, offering a hand to Pearl, who stands on her own, but takes it to hold once she’s on her feet. He shakes the bag in his free hand excitedly and Pearl’s gaze shifts to the interior of the shop.

Sadie and Lars wave uncomfortably and Steven takes his... adoptive mom? to go make up with her... wife?

“Seriously, how are they all related?” Lars asks, not for the first time. Sadie shrugs.


End file.
